Damn You, Microsoft Word

This post can help you avoid the tears and/or pure fury
associated with some problems in Microsoft Word.

Since we've been talking about revamping CVs, the next logical step would be discussing what happens when you try to make neat little columns in Word. You know, you have the job that you had on the left of the line, all neatly lined up, and then you want the date you worked all the way on the right.

Something like this....

Research Assistant for Dr. Joe Schmoe, "Intro to Brain Surgery"

Fall 2008Research Assistant for Dr. Jane Main, "Underwater Basketweaving"

Spring 2008

(ironically, in blogger, I can't put them on the same line...but you get the idea)

You'll want "Research Assistant" flush against the left margin, and "Fall 2008" on the same line, flush right.

So you manually space the date all the way to the right margin, and it looks great!

Until you print it out. And for some reason, all the dates are slightly off, so it looks something like this:

Fall 2008

Spring2008..

Spring 2009

And it is maddening.

And then you try to make columns, and suddenly, words are jumping all over the page in every place but where you want them...

Research Assistant for Dr. Joe Schmoe, "Intro to Brain Surgery"

Fall 2008

Research Assistant for Dr. Jane Main, "Underwater Basketweaving"

Spring 2008

You start fiddling around with it, get evil messages like "The number must be between 1 and 45," and the stuff you want on the right column is still on the left no matter how many times you hit return, and you scream,

"I JUST WANT THE DAMN DATES TO BE ON THE RIGHT!"

So here's help.

How to Make Columns

If you need one thing on the line to be justified left, and one thing on the line to be justified right, the solution you need is to put the text into columns.

Highlight the text, then go up to "Format" and select "Columns." From there, you can choose if you want 2 or 3 columns. But what if your left hand column needs to be bigger, to fit more text, and your right hand column just tiny, for dates only? Well, funny you should ask...

How to Make Columns Different Sizes

1) Go up to the top of the screen, where it says "Format." Open the pull-down box.

2) Click on "Columns."

3) Deselect the check box that says "Equal Columns Width."

4) Now you can change the width of the boxes.

Formatting problems can seem so meaningless and small...
and yet insanely frustrating

How to Get the Stupid Column Things to Work

When the Words Are Bouncing All Over the Place

1) Put everything into 1 column first. Highlight the body of the text that you want in columns. Don’t highlight empty lines above or below text.

2) Go up to "Format."

3) Click on "Columns."

4) Choose either 1, 2, or 3 columns, or Left (2 different sized columns, with the one on the left being shorter / thinner than the one on the right) or Right (shorter on right)

5) Now once your text is in columns, put the cursor where you want the first column to end.

6) Go up to "Insert."

7) Get the pulldown menu and select "Break..."

8) Click on "Column Break"

9) Put the Column Break in at the end of Column 1!

Work-Arounds for the Problem of Merging Files

Recently, a dissertator wrote to the Writing Center, desperate for help:

"This is a formatting problem: when I put all my chapters together into one document, I got some dotted lines which, no matter how hard I try, I can not remove. They look like page breaks or something. Please help!"

The matter of whether or not to save individual chapters as individual word document files or to merge them into one big file has come up in the Dissertation Workshop before. Because this problem happens from time to time, here are some suggestions that might be useful:

1) You might consider not merging all the files into one file. One woman in the Dissertation Workshop who just passed her defense mentioned that she never merged her files into one file. What she did was save all the chapters as their own files, then she used the page function in Microsoft Word to get the pagination correct.

For example, say Chapter 1 is 32 pages long. Then you'd go into Chapter 2 and tell Microsoft Word to number the pages, starting with 33. It may be a little cumbersome, but if you're pulling your hair out over

2) Try talking to someone in IT at the Help Desk. Help Desk - helpdesk@cgu.edu, or toll free at (800) 630-8893, local number (909) 621-8174 or 18174 on campus. Sunny (Training Manager, sunny.chau@cgu.edu) is really helpful!

3) Have you talked to Edris Stuebner, the Registrar? Even if she can't help you specifically with this problem, you'll have to meet her anyway when you're ready to submit, so may as well stop by. She might be able to refer you to someone else who can help.

4) Have you tried printing out a dotted-line section to see if it only appears on-screen? It's possible that they're just showing on screen but won't print.

Still Need Help?

If you're still having a problem, please don't e-mail the Writing Center about tech issues. We don't know either!

You might try posting your tech problem on Yahoo Answers. Surprisingly, tech questions on there are often answered within minutes.

If any of you have run across solutions that have helped you in Microsoft Word, please post 'em!

Interfolio Planetary, Planetary Interfolio!

Mailbox in front of the Claremont Post Office

(If the title of this entry makes you need to hear the Beastie Boys, here's the link!)

Now that hiring season is upon several of us, it is a good time to start thinking about ways to organize your application documents and promote yourself as a candidate.

When she came and talked to our group, Jackee Engles from Career Management mentioned Interfolio as one option for preparing your job applications. And with Philip Clayton returning to speak to our group about CVs next meeting, it seems like an appropriate time to discuss Interfolio.

So what is Interfolio? What does it do? What does it cost? Should you try it?

That's what today's post is all about!

I joined Interfolio last night to gather information for the group and see how I like its functionality. It's too soon for me to know yet how much I like it, but here is the initial information you might want to get started.

The breakdown:

Where do I find it? www.interfolio.com

How much does it cost? $19 for 1 year, $40 for 3 years, $57 for 5 years. Fees for sending individual documents based on pages and mailing (priority, overnight, overnight express)

Doesn't our school offer a free service? Nope. The service our school recommends is Interfolio.

Why would I need it for more than a year? In case you don't find a job during this round, in case you go on the market again, or in case you get a good "starter" job, but want to move on to something else.

What's it do? Holds all of your documents in one place (letters of rec, transcripts, statements of teaching philosophy, etc.) and will mail them or e-mail them for you when you ask it to! (for a cost, of course)

Of course, you could store your documents yourself...

Does it do anything else? It currently has an online portfolio webpage system in beta testing, which is sort of like your own website where you can advertise whatever you do. Because it is in beta testing, it has some quirks (for example, not being able to change font size, links to enlarge pictures not working). But it's also FREE at the moment (when you subscribe to interfolio's dossier service)

Click here to see a sample portfolio page to see what it looks like.

It's a little buggy at the moment, but once they get the kinks ironed out, it should be a really fantastic tool. When it goes live, they will charge for it, so it would be advantageous to get on and try it now while its free.

How does it work? You upload your documents and you send requests to your letter writers to upload their docs. When you're ready to send off applications, you click on which documents get sent where, in what form, and how fast you want them to go (you can pay for expedited service, tracking, etc. if you need to.)

What if I'm a technophobe? What if my letter writers are computer illiterate? You can send documents to interfolio by mail as well. The interface on the system (so far as I can tell) is very basic - only a few buttons to choose from, very clearly designed.

Will it look as nice as it would if I did it myself? What about university letterhead? This is something I'm still waiting to see. Since your letter writers can still send interfolio letters by mail, it would seem that the letterhead would be scanned as well. And at the end of the day, the weight of paper or the precision paperclipping that you do probably does not matter that much - certainly not as much as having all of your applications materials in order, presented together, and submitted on time. If you are particularly paranoid about paper, you could use interfolio for most of your applications, and then do the most important, long-shot application by hand. Interfolio could save you a lot of time on applications, allowing you to just focus on your #1 job.

What if I still have more questions? Their help page is here.

If you have any experiences with Interfolio or tips that you'd like to share, please leave a comment. Happy job hunting!

Building a Winning CV

Stop by Career Management, across from Harvey Mudd on Dartmouth,
and say hi to Jackee Engles!

At our recent meeting, Jackee McNitt Engles, Assistant Director of the CGU Office of Career Management, was kind enough to share her knowledge about curriculum vitae development. She even brought each of us a wonderful booklet, Building a Professional CV, to use for future reference.

CVs are much longer than resumes, tending toward completeness rather than being concise. It is acceptable for your CV to be as long as it takes to highlight everything relevant to the position. Name dropping is acceptable in CVs when it is relevant.

CVs have a very flexible format, although education is always listed first. CVs contain many more categories than resumes. List categories in order of importance, then use reverse chronology within each category. How you construct your CV says something about your personality. Regardless of how you construct yours, make sure that it is clean, consistent, and readable. Katie mentioned that she has a master CV that she tailors to each job. Jackee said this was a great idea.

The "heart and soul" of a CV is the accomplishment statement. This differs from a job description because it gives you the opportunity to describe what you actually did, rather than what the job required. It is extremely important to quantify your experience in terms of scope and results. The group took turns writing sample accomplishment statements. For example: "Increased sales 50% in the first year of business."

Jackee reminded us that your CV is one tool in your job search arsenal. By far the most important tool will be your personal contacts.

She recommended that if you use a portfolio, it would be appropriate to take it to an interview, but for the application it is better to post it on a website and list the link to it on your CV.

Jackee also told us about a service called interfolio, which applicants can use (for a fee) to store, manage, and send electronic and print files. http://www.interfolio.com/.

Is there anything I should leave off of my CV? Definitely leave off information that is illegal to ask. For example, leave out information about your marital status or age. There's a reason these questions are illegal. People do have biases. Typically, you would also leave out hobbies and personal information, but there is the exception to the rule - in some cases it makes sense to add them. And if you have volunteer work, definitely add that under a separate heading for volunteer work.

How far back should a CV go? CVs can go back forever if relevant, but at least ten years.

What font should I use for my CV? 12 point is ideal; 11 is the smallest. Any font that is standard in emailed documents will work, such as Times New Roman, Arial, and Garamond.

How should I send a paper version of my CV? Paperclip pages together and put a running header with your name, email, and phone number on each page except the first one.

How do you ask for an informational interview? Call the person and say that (your contact person's name) suggested that I call you. Ask for 15 minutes of the person's time, although it would be extremely rare for the informational interview to limit it to 15 minutes.

What if you aren't sure of your exact quantifications (in your accomplishment statements)? You need to feel comfortable with what you have written. If you aren't it will show in an interview. If you are not sure of your exact numbers, use qualifier words like "approximately" in your statemtents.

What additional services does your office offer? I thought you would never ask. Page 15 (of the booklet) lists our additional services, as does our website www.cgu.edu/ocm. Also, in my office I have a list of 500 alumni in various fields who are willing to conduct informational interviews.

Philip Clayton on the Academic Job Hunt

Prof. Philip Clayton tells it like it is

Professor Clayton, Professor of Philosophy and Religion at CGU and Ingraham Professor of Theology at the Claremont School of Theology, kindly joined our group to answer some tough questions about the job market for academics.

To learn more about Professor Clayton, be sure to check out his website, Clayton's Emergings.

Would you tell us a little about yourself?

In college, I dropped out, traveled around Europe for a while, did my first Master's, worked for a world hunger organization. I had an idea for my dissertation and wrote it out - I had a 200 page dissertation in hand when I came back to Yale.

They looked at it and said, "Your topic's no good."

"But I have 200 pages!" I said. I call that my "Black Monday."

I've been interdisciplinary from the beginning. I'm in the Philosophy Department at CGU, And the Religion and Philosophy Department at CST.

Before I begin my talk, let me mention this: The days of casting a wide net over the job market and picking the best job for you are over. You have to be specific and you have to be prepared.

* * * * *

“The academic job market is very rough. I advocate that you get very specific about the kind of job you want and create a paper trail for that kind of job.”

- Prof. Clayton, giving the main thesis of his talk

* * * * *

What kind of paper trail do you have in mind?

A portfolio on paper that shows you're more qualified than the other candidates. You create that paper trail with your CV.

Your CV should include:

• Areas of specialization
• Areas of competence
• Publications
• Papers
• Teaching experience
• Community organization or involvement

Those six phrases at the top are really crucial. All of the headings should show the kind of job you're interested in, to show you're the ideal candidate for that kind of job.

Then, you substantiate what you've said through transcripts, letters of rec, etc.

* * * * *

“Whatever you claim you're the best at - you substantiate that through your CV, transcripts, and letters of rec.”

- Prof. Clayton, on making an ideal application

* * * * *

The person who looks on paper to be the best person for the job is going to get the interview.

How competitive is it? Can you give an example?

I was recently on a hiring committee. We received 85 applications and chose 8 to talk to at AAR (Religion's national conference). Of those 8, we brought 2 to campus.

Gulp.

That's why tailoring your CV to a specific job is so important. It's all about fantasizing your way into the future and creating a paper trail for it.

What if you'd be happy with a multitude of positions?

It's so competitive, you need to take a targeted approach. Find the school you want to apply to, then find out the things they really need covered. What are the courses or areas they really need you to teach?

You can change the order of the items on your resume - the areas of competency, for example - to fit the needs of the school you're applying to.

What is the market looking for? You need to get a sense of the market and mold yourself to it.

Are there templates for a good academic job CV?

First, think of the kind of school you want to teach at. For example, let's say you want to teach at Swarthmore College. You'd go to their website and go look at the CVs of each of the faculty members, especially the junior faculty.

Look at the types of formatting they use, the skills they highlight, the types of journals they've published in.

(for a sample of a Swarthmore faculty profile, see here.)

For someone who has non-academic work experience, but little teaching experience, will this hinder a person's ability to get an academic job?

Yes. Academics can be snotty, its best to downplay nonacademic jobs.

People entering the field can be very idealistic, you can think you're going to turn the academy upside down. But to get a job, you have to play into their categories to get hired.

Look at the journals for your field. What are people getting hired in?

There's a ballpark you need to know in advance. You do want to keep this in mind when you pick your dissertation topic.

* * * * *

“No lover is more intimate than your dissertation topic. If you don't love that topic, its going to be really rough."

- Prof. Clayton, on strategically choosing your dissertation topic

* * * * *

Haha! That analogy is fun to play with over a beer some time.

(Note, for more great dissertation analogies, see the notes for our session with Prof. Lori Anne Ferrell, who likened writing a dissertation to being in love)

To give you an idea of the state out there - NIH funding for the sciences reached 30 billion in 2008. For the humanities - 350 million. We are seriously underfunding the humanities.

Throughout Europe and North America, we're seeing the crash of the humanities.

In a tough market like this, if you want to get in, you plan in advance.

I want to start preparing job applications for my field's national conference, which happens 5 months before I graduate. I don't want to skimp on job apps, but I also need to make finishing my dissertation my priority. How do I have time to do both?

You make time. This is good practice for what happens when have the job - as a professor you will constantly be multitasking. You might as well start now.

That sense of being hung out to dry, the dissertation writing depression, you can overcome that. Say to yourself, "I'm doing one of these other projects in the afternoon." Give yourself time for the dissertation, time for applications, time for other projects.

Your breakdown for a typical day might be 2/3 straight writing for the dissertation, 1/3 for other projects, which could include working on your job application material.

How long should the CV be?

Line by line on your CV, you need to show that you're doing more than the other applicants.

So its really important to put a lot of info on there. At the same time, if it's B.S., they'll see right through it.

The people on the hiring committee want to see pages - no more of that "a resume must be 1 page only" business.

First you pad your CV so that you can get at least 2 pages of paper....If you have a book review published, that's a real line, include that. Then as you get more experience and publications over time, you can drop off the weaker stuff.

I have very limited teaching experience. If I was to get an interview, do I focus on my non-academic work experience or should I focus mainly on my research and conference presentations?

Most definitely not the non-academic work experience. Focus on the conferences and presentations.

There are non-academic positions that could still support your application. For example, if you have community organizing experience, admin experience running a program of any kind.

I own my own business. Is that something I should mention?

Yes! Place that under the Admin Experience heading. Then you tell your letter writers, "Could you mention my business and how it fits?" Then, in your cover letter, "with my extensive experience...I would be able to...fundraising, etc."

A lot of people would see that and go, "Snap! Future Department Chair!"

Spin everything in a way that puts you directly in line with their needs.

What if you want to get more research experience? How do you go about it?

Approach the professor that you're interested in working with. Say, "I'd like to worth with you on your research. I'm really interested in what you do. I have 5 hours a week, I'd like to work with you on your project." You might even offer free services for a semester in exchange for letters of rec.

Once you get in, make yourself indispensable. You may get notes, co-author credit, etc.

You might even offer to run errands, drive for the visiting professors. The students who do the driving get the e-mails, contact information.

Take the initiative, do the networking.

How do I get publications?

Send a note, "I'm willing to do a book review for such-and-such, it's right in my area."

Being a book review editor is a thankless job. They're happy when you come by and offer to help them.

Go to your professors, ask.

Does getting published in popular publications (as opposed to academic journals) count?

That's changing. Popular publications are notable because they are read - less than 10 people read the average academic article.

Remember, online journals also count.


What exactly does "postdoc" mean? Is it something you only do if you can't get a teaching job?

A postdoc is a research position, usually assisting some other professor.

A postdoc is excellent. Hard to get, especially in the humanities. In the sciences though, now that is the way to go! What a great thing to have.

A CV places your most recent activities at the top and moves backwards. Imagine having a postdoc listed first.

Now, this isn't relevant for most people in the humanities. But if you win a 2 year postdoc, you still keep applying for tenure positions. You can always resign from the postdoc, so keep hunting.

Getting a postdoc does not at all look like "Oh, couldn't get a tenure job." Not at all.


Can we talk about adjuncting? It feels like they're just using you, it's slavery.

That classroom experience, it's holy for me. That time of being with your students is yours. You're learning so much during that time you're in the classroom. And each time you do it, you're cutting your hours of prep.

It's way up there from simply TAing.

Adjuncting is important. But if you have that first step and you've taught some classes and you want to stop to finish the dissertation, that's fine. I'm worried about the people with no teaching.

How do you get into adjuncting? I'm not interested in getting a tenure track job.

Get that first class. Once you have that, you're good.

Do you have friends in the department? Find out how it works. Is it only teaching the intro course? Then your task is to show your love of teaching, that you're ready to teach intro, that you have a calling for undergraduate teaching.

Who is the chair? What are her interests? Ask yourself, "How can I convince the chair to let me in?"

You've done a CV that says the thing you love best is teaching Introduction to (Insert). Now bring it to life.

A standard liberal arts teaching load:

1 class a year in your area of specialization
1 intro class a semester
1 2nd year class
+ something vaguely in your area

So if you don't love teaching, you're gonna die...

Remember, on paper - you're thrilled to be teaching that intro course.

What if you're really interested in research?

Then you should look for a research position, or something in industry.

Pure research positions are the hardest to get.

It can be just brutal, just brutal. The total nerd, she's the one who gets the position. She's the most brilliant in her field, she gets the research professorship.

It's all looking so bleak!

I'm here to talk realism with you. This is all true, but at the same time, I want you to know that I love being in this field.


What kind of mistakes do people make in interviews?

Often, they may appear like they're not very menschlich, not very human. For example, I once saw a candidate who only made eye contact with the other men in the room, disregarding the women. Afterwards, one of the women on the committee said, "I wouldn't hire this guy from a dead body."

Another common mistake is during the interview, you sit there and reel off the list of your dissertation chapters ("in the first chapter I argue this....and then I argue that...and in the second chapter I argue this....and then...."). You'll bore them.

What they want to see is a passion for teaching.

We've all heard about people being on the market for 5 years. How long before its time to give up?

We can't control how long it takes. We can only control what we put forward.

Usually, economics determines when you'll stop. You'll need to ask yourself, is it really worth it any longer? The feedback from the people in your life will also give you guidance.

You'll need to ask yourself, "Can I imagine myself happy anywhere else?"

A part of this is living for your dreams. It's like trying out for the Olympics.

Do you have to be willing to go anywhere for a job?

Yes.

What if you can't leave this area?

Then market yourself for getting your foot in the door as an adjunct at a place nearby. Once you get in, make yourself invaluable.

Run meetings, start a student club and offer to be their advisor, do everything.

Does being an adjunct mean that they tend not to hire you?

Depends on the place. Again, make yourself invaluable, that's your best shot at getting something more.

I'm thinking about getting into grant writing. Would that make me a more attractive hire?

Yes. If you have received any grants, put them on your CV, along with the amount. Did you get a GSC travel grant? Put it down. A CGU Dissertation grant? Definitely put it down.

Are there many schools hiring people who haven't finished yet?

Depends. What do your letters of rec say? This is a hot dissertation, she'll be competitive when she goes on the market, you have a chance now to snap her up. Ask your prof to say, "It is virtually certain that she will finish by... I have seen the draft and she's in her final revision stage."

If you're planning on graduating in May, have the draft in January. My advice, go on the job market one year early so that you can make all your mistakes that year and it doesn't matter.

If you're planning on graduating Fall of '09 - go on the market Fall of '08. Apply, get your letters together.

And then if you land a job, great, you'll make sure you finish that dissertation in time.

After graduation, what if there's a gap where you don't have an academic affiliation? Can you still get published?

Yes. In that case, you list the city where you live.



We really enjoyed having Prof. Clayton visit and hope he comes again to the workshop soon.